2012

Range Resources Corp. expects capital spending to be flat from 2011 to 2012 as the company becomes more efficient in the Marcellus Shale and completes its sale of assets in the Barnett Shale, but to rise in 2013 as the company increases drilling.

A proposed pipeline to carry crude oil currently stranded at Cushing, OK, to higher-priced markets in Houston would also serve crude production from established and emerging shale plays in the Midcontinent, the project’s backers said.

Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) will “significantly expand” its Rich Eagle Ford Mainline (REM) project in South Texas and construct a processing facility in Jackson County, TX, to accommodate more than 540,000 MMBtu/d of new commitments for long-term fee-based services from multiple producers, the partnership said Thursday.

The Maryland Senate ended its 2011 legislative session without voting on a bill that would have frozen the permitting of Marcellus Shale drilling until 2013 while state agencies reviewed the results of various studies into Marcellus development and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking).

Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are on the rise, necessitating expansion of Weir Oil & Gas unit Weir SPM’s manufacturing and services facility in Fort Worth, TX, the company said.

The Maryland House of Delegates could vote as early as Tuesday on a bill that would freeze the permitting of Marcellus Shale drilling — at least temporarily — while state agencies review the results of various studies into Marcellus development and hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracking), including a major study being performed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (see Shale Daily, Feb. 24).

Encana Corp. has joined its Horn River producer peers Apache Corp. and EOG Resources Inc. in the Kitimat liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal project on the west coast of central British Columbia (BC) and its associated gas pipeline. Encana is taking a 30% stake in the project, which will target Asian markets with western Canadian gas supplies.

Calgary-based Talisman Energy Inc. on Tuesday deepened its strategic relationship with Sasol Ltd. by selling it a half-stake in its Cypress A assets in the Montney Shale for C$1.05 billion.

The growth of natural gas liquids (NGL) production from North American shale plays helped Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD) set a net income record in 2010, according to COO Jim Teague.